Tim Waggoner

Tim Waggoner is an American author of novels and short stories in the fantasy, horror, and thriller genres.

Education Waggoner graduated from Wright State University in 1989 with a Master of Arts in English with a Creative Writing Concentration. He holds BS ed. and MA degrees from Wright State University.

He has also written the Nekropolis series of urban fantasies and the Ghost Trackers series written in collaboration with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the Ghost Hunters television show. His books for writers include The Art of Writing Genre Fiction, written in collaboration with Michael Knost, and Writing in the Dark, a guide to writing horror and dark fantasy fiction.

A number of his stories have received honorable mentions in various editions of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. and his short story "How to be a Horror Writer" was nominated for the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award. His novella The Winter Box won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction.

His how-to-write-horror book Writing in the Dark won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction, and his article "Speaking of Horror" won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Non-Fiction. His adaptation of Terrifier 2 won the 2025 Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel.

Teaching He serves as a professor of English and teaches composition and creative writing at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Waggoner also taught creative writing for many years at Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania, in an innovative low-residency Master of Fine Arts degree program in Writing Popular Fiction.

Personal life Waggoner grew up in the Dayton, Ohio, area. Like Death (2005) Pandora Drive (2006) Darkness Wakes (2006) Cross County (2008) Last of the Lycans (2010) Beneath the Bones (2012) [Re-issue of Cross County] The Way of All Flesh (2014) Eat the Night (2016) Teeth of the Sea (2017) The Mouth of the Dark (2018) Blood Island (2019) They Kill (2019) The Forever House (2020) Your Turn to Suffer (2021) We Will Rise (2022) A Hunter Called Night (May 9, 2023) Lord of the Feast (April 16, 2024)

Series Ghost Trackers Ghost Trackers with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (2011) Ghost Town with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (2012)

Godfire Orchard of Dreams (2006) Heart's Wound (2006)

Nekropolis Nekropolis (2009) Dead Streets (2010) Dark War (2011) The Nekropolis Archives (2012) (Omnibus edition of above novels and the short stories "Disarmed and Dangerous," "The Midnight Watch," and "Zombie Interrupted")

Shadow Watch Night Terrors (2014) Dream Stalkers (2014)

Custodians of the Cosmos The Atrocity Engine (April 30, 2024) The Book of Madness (July 30, 2024) The Desolation War (October 2024)

Collections All Too Surreal (2002) Broken Shadows (2009) Bone Whispers (2013) Cemetery Dance Select: Tim Waggoner (2017) Dark And Distant Voices (2017) Love, Death, and Madness (2018) A Little Aqua Book of Marine Tales (2019) Old Monsters Never Die: A Story Collection (May 24, 2024)

Media tie-ins Defender: Hyperswarm (2004), after the Defender video game Gangrel (2004), from the Dark Ages: Vampire role-playing game A Nightmare on Elm Street: Protégé (2005), after the A Nightmare on Elm Street films Exalted 5: A Shadow Over Heaven's Eye (2005), after the Exalted role-playing game Stargate SG-1: Valhalla (2009), after the Stargate SG-1 television series Lady Ruin (2010), from the Eberron Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game campaign setting Grimm: The Killing Time (2014), after the Grimm television series Alien: Prototype (2019), after the Alien franchise Zombicide Invader: Planet Havoc (2022), from the Zombicide board game

The Blade of the Flame From the Eberron Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game campaign setting Thieves of Blood (2006) Forge of the Mind Slayers (2007) Sea of Death (2008)

Dragonlance: the New Adventures Set in the Dragonlance shared universe. Temple of the Dragonslayer (2004) Return of the Sorceress (2004)

Supernatural After the Supernatural television series. Supernatural: Carved in Flesh (2013) Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken (2013) Supernatural: Mythmaker (2016) The Men of Letters Bestiary: Winchester Family Edition (2017) Supernatural: Children of Anubis (2019)

Film novelizations xXx: Return of Xander Cage - The Official Movie Novelization (January 24, 2017) Resident Evil: the Final Chapter (2017), novelization of the film of the same name Kingsman: the Golden Circle (2017), novelization of the film of the same name Halloween Kills (2021), novelization of the slasher film Terrifier 2: The Official Movie Novelization (2024)

X series Novelizations of the X film series X: The Official Novelization (2024) Pearl: The Official Novelization (2024) MaXXXine: The Official Novelization (2025)

Books on Writing

The Art of Writing Genre Fiction (2018), with Michael Knost Writing in the Dark (2020) Writing in the Dark: The Workbook (2022) Let Me Tell You a Story (Writing in the Dark) (October 5, 2023) Just Add Writer (2025)